Scandinavia

Occasionally, just occasionally, there are weeks full of silver linings. The one that saw Britain's first nationwide schools climate strikes was definitely one of them. When Greta Thunberg began her lone climate protest outside the Swedish Parliament last August she was not to know that, within 6 months there would be 70,000 pupils a week, across 270 towns and cities worldwide, who would be joining her. Their message was simple: "Wake up! There's a climate emergency." If you had followed the week's debates in Britain's Parliament you wouldn't have guessed. Politicians had been given plenty of...

The success of far-right populists across Europe continued in Sweden with a surge in support for the Sweden Democrats who took in 17.6 percent of the vote, coming third against the left and right blocs. Both blocs have refused to form a coalition with them but with a motion of confidence due for Swedish Prime Minister and Swedish Social Democrat leader Stefan Löfven, Sweden Democrats leader Jimmie Akesson believes Löfven will have to negotiate with him. Akesson focused his election campaign firmly on migration and law and order. He is also in favour of holding a referendum to leave the EU. The...

Ryanair pilots in Ireland, Sweden and Belgium will strike for 24-hours on Friday 10 August. The strike is part of an ongoing dispute as pilots are demanding a fair and transparent approach to transfers between different bases. On 25 July Ryanair escalated the dispute by threatening to sack 100 pilots and 200 cabin crew, or transfer them to Poland. Pilots based in Ireland, and members of FORSA union, have already struck for four periods of 24 hours since 12 July. They may be joined by pilots based in Germany and the Netherlands after a poll by the Association of Dutch Pilots saw 99.5% of...

June 2017 was the hottest June for 176 years. Across Europe temperatures went up to 38°C, and groups of school children and workers defied instructions and wore skirts to school and work to try and keep cool. In Nantes, France, a group of bus drivers asked their employer for permission to wear shorts. When this request was denied they decided to wear the only item that was authorised in hot weather — a skirt. One worker told the Guardian “Our bosses’ offices are air-conditioned, which isn’t the case with the majority of our vehicles. To spend more than seven hours in a vehicle in 50°C...

The Programme for International Student Assessments (PISA) rankings were published on 6 December. These put UK schools in the 20s among the 72 countries surveyed. Socialists don′t put great store by the PISA ratings, which measure different nations academic achievements by testing 15 and 16 year olds in maths, science and reading. However, the UK’s poor results do demonstrate that, even by their own standards, the Tories model for education is failing. Whilst not perfect, Finland provides a model that is more effective according to PISA and, more importantly, is less harmful to children. In...

On 8 November, the Dockworkers’ Union started industrial action, including a ban on overtime, at the Gothenburg terminal which handles 60% of Sweden’s container trade. It has also called for a blockade on traffic redirected from Gothenburg. Problems in Gothenburg have increased over the last five years since APM, the container-terminal offshoot of the giant Maersk group, took over, and especially since, according to the union, about a year and a half ago, the company adopted “an anti-union stance”, presumably in response to the continued stagnation and sharper competition in global container...

Refugees seeking asylum in Denmark will have their belongings confiscated by the police, in order to finance their own asylum process. This is the result of the new “asylum package” bill, or the so-called “jewellery law”. The broad parliamentary agreement was proposed by the Danish right-wing liberal party Venstre, the right-wing parties in parliament including the Danish People’s Party and the Conservatives, and the Social Democrats. The bill was put to a vote in the parliament, Folketing, on January 26 and will be in effect from February 5. The discussions on the Danish parliament’s new...

London’s annual radical feminist-led demonstration against sexual and domestic violence, Reclaim the Night, which took place in London on 28 November, is under fire for its sex worker-exclusive approach to feminism. Reclaim the Night have a long history of making sex workers who continue to work in the industry and sex worker blocs very unwelcome. This year, the coalition which organised London RTN publicly condemned Amnesty International’s decision to support the full decriminalisation of all aspects of prostitution. They argue that prostitution is a form of violence against women and call...

We present a day-by-day diary of the greatest strike movement which has yet taken place in the Nazi-occupied countries. It was written by a man who. Escaped from Noray. We think that this diary in its simplicity gives a better picture of Europe than ever-so many elaborate articles.It should be remembered, however, that events like this are as yet the exception and that in general the class struggle has not yet taken on such acute form. Monday, September 8 —The rationing of milk becomes effective. It provides that people will no longer get milk at offices or places of work. Only at retail...

A recent National Union of Teachers survey found that the average teacher works a 60 hour week. The average was already, in 2013, according to official government figures, 59.3 hours in primary and 55.7 in secondary, and it is increasing. According to the government figures, teachers do 20% of their work outside of the school day, and according to a survey by the conservative union ATL, almost half work up to 10 hours over their weekend. Something like two out of five teachers quit the job in the first five years, and mostly because of workload. An ATL survey found that 76% of those quitting...